>> chris: i'm chris wallace. the u.s. closes its embassy in yemen. that story next on "fox news sunday." ♪ the obama administration tries to plug the holes in the security system that allowed a would-be bomber on board a u.s. airliner. with americans asking: are we safe? what can be done to prevent future attacks? we'll get the latest from john brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism. and kit bond, top republican on the senate intelligence committee. plus, our sunday panel looks ahead with a new year in politics, the economy, sports and entertainment. all right now on "fox news sunday." hello again and happy new year from fox news in washington.

citing ongoing threats, the u.s. government today has closed its embassy in yemen. meanwhile, the president and top advisors are reviewing what mr. obama calls "the systemic failures" that allowed a would-be bomber on board that plane christmas day. we're joined now by the white house official leading that review. john brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism. and mr. brennan, welcome to "fox news sunday." >> thank you very much, chris. >> chris: as we said, the u.s. today closed our embassy in yemen. why? >> well, there are indications that al-qaeda peninsula is targeting the embassy and targeting the personnel. we're not going to take chances with the lives of our diplomats and others at the embassy. we made a decision overnight. it spoke with the ambassadors last night and again this morning to make sure we're doing everything possible to protect our diplomats there. women're working closer with the yemenese. they're providing support but

we're not taking chances. >> chris: you say targeting the embassy, do you mean you had indication, intelligence they might try to explode a bomb or attack the embassy? >> al-qaeda has been trying to carry out such attacks over the past many months. we know in november of 2008 they carried out such an attack against the embassy. we're continuing to track this. we know there are a number of al-qaeda operatives determined to carry out such attacks. we're not going to let that happen. if we have to close the embassy to ensure we have the optimal security, we will do that. >> chris: are u.s. citizens in yemen in danger? >> the embassy has a warning system so other is itss in countries are notified when such activities take place. we're doing everything possible to make sure all u.s. citizens, westerners and the yemenis themselves are protected from al-qaeda. >> chris: but to press my question, are u.s. citizens at risk, in danger? >> until the yemeni government gets on top of the situation with al-qaeda, there is a risk

of attacks. a number of tourists have been kidnap and a number of tourists have been killed. that's why we're working closely with the yemeni government. we've worked closely with them several times. i've been out there twice. it spoke with their president to emphasize importance of maintaining pressure on al-qaeda. the they've been very good and cooperative and we're determined to continue to press the effort. >> chris: let me widen this discussion in that sense. not only as you point out, obviously were you in yemen earlier, but general petraeus, the head of central command was in yemen yesterday. the british overnight have announced that the u.s. and the british are going to be co-funding a new yemeni anti-terror, counterterror police force. is it fair to say that we are opening up a second front in our war on terror, outside the afghanistan/pakistan theater in yemen? >> i wouldn't say we're opening a second front. this is a continuation of an effort that we had underway, as i said, since the beginning of the administration.

general petraeus has been to yemen several times. we're continuing to have a close and ongoing dialogue with the yemeni government. we're focussing on the mi military fronts. i spoke with the british also about the types of things we can do together in support of the yemeni government. this is a determine and concerted effort. we're not going to let al-qaeda continue to make gains in yemen because we need to take whatever steps necessary to protect our citizens there as well as abroad. >> could that mean u.s. troops on ground in yemen? >> we're not talking about that at this point at all. the yemen government demonstrated willingness to take the fight to al-qaeda and they're willing to accept our support. we're providing everything they've asked for. they've made real progress. in the past month, al-qaeda has take an number of hits, a number of al-qaeda leaders in yemen are no longer with us because of the determined and aggressive action. >> chris: in president obama's media address this weekend, he talked for the first time about the young nigerian abdulmutallab's links to known

terrorists. let's watch. >> it appears that he joined an affiliate of al-qaeda, and that this group, al-qaeda in the arabian peninsula trained him, equipped him with the explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for america. >> chris: mr. brennan, what do we now know about abdulmutallab's links to al-qaeda, what their role was in the christmas day attempted terror attack? and how seriously do you take claims from abdulmutallab and from al-qaeda in yemen that there are dozens more jihadis who are being trained to attack the west? >> right now in yemen we know that there are probably several hundred members of al-qaeda. as we've been able to piece together the story about mr. abdulmutallab, it's clear that he was in yemen for several months between august and november or so. we know that he had reached out to al-qaeda. we know that he received training. in fact training at one of the camps that was hit during the month of december. he was clearly directed to carry out this attack at the

direction of al-qaeda. the senior leadership there. this is something that we're very concerned about. we're concerned that they may be trying to get other operatives, non-yemenis and others to train inside of yemen. we need to make sure we continue the pressure on al-qaeda inside yemen. >> chris: do we believe as al-qaeda and abdulmutallab claimed that there are dozen more jihadis who have already been trained to attack the west? do we have specific information about a credible threat of that? >> we have good intelligence that al-qaeda is training individuals in yemen. we are pulling the threads on a number of the reports to make sure we stay on top of it. over the past week in particular, we are doing everything possible to scour all the intelligence that is out there to see whether or not there is another abdulmutallab out there. >> chris: at this point, do we have credible information, specific information that there is another abdulmutallab out there? >> we know people have been trained inside of these camps. we have not been able to identify an individual who may

be in fact getting on board a plane. it's more difficult to get on board a plane than it was on christmas day. >> chris: several guantanamo detainees who were released, it should be pointed out by the bush administration, reportedly ended up in important roles in al-qaeda in yemen. yet, the white house says it has no plans to hold all transfers of detainees to yemen, that it is going to decide those on a case-by-case basis. first of all, is that true that we have not decided to hold all transfers of detine kne -- detainees to yemen? if it's true, why not? at this point given the instability there, why wouldn't we decide not to send any yemeni detainee back to the country? >> first, put it in context. in the last administration, 532 detainees were transferred from guantanamo. during this administration, we transferred 42. seven of those have gone back to yemen. the first one went six or eight weeks ago. six went in december. we had close dialogue with the

yemeni government about the expectations we have as far as what they're supposed to do when the detainees go back. several detine kntainees were p custody immediately. the guantanamo facility must be closed. it was a propaganda tool for al-qaeda. we're determined to close it but we're not going to do anything to put american security at risk. working closely with the yemeni government we are looking at the other detainees from yemen at guantanamo and we'll take the right steps but we're not going to put americans at risk. >> chris: but you are going to consider on a case-by-case basis? >> absolutely. we're going to look at this and ensure the security measures are put in place. as we address the security situation on the ground. >> chris: perhaps the most controversial step that president obama took after the christmas day terror attack was to charge abdulmutallab as a criminal defendant.

he was cooperating with authorities. he was giving information about his links to al-qaeda. but after he got a criminal lawyer, he reportedly stopped cooperating, stopped talking. why not treat him as an enemy combatant, put him in a secret prison, use the interrogation techniques that president obama has specifically approved and try to get more information out of him? >> well, we have an array of tools that we will use, and we want to make sure we maintain flexibility as far as how we deal with the individuals. get the facts on the table. he was arrested on u.s. soil on a plane in the detroit airplane. he was in fact talking to people who were detaining him. there were people who were arrested during the previous administration. richard reid, padilla, ferris, others all were charged and tried in criminal court and sentenced. some cases to life in prisonment. just because somebody is going to be put in the criminal legal process does not mean that we don't have other

opportunities to get information from them. >> chris: wait, wait. let me ask you specifically. after abdulmutallab got lawyered up, did he stop cooperating with authorities? did he stop talking? >> i'm not going to address exactly what he did before or after he was -- he talked with his lawyer. we got information and we continue to have opportunities to do that. as you talk with the lawyers and you talk with the individuals, as they recognize what they're facing as far as the charges, conviction and possible sentence, there are opportunities to continue to talk about it. f.b.i. has some of the best interrogators in the world. so i'm confident that we're going to continue to be able to work the system and see whether or not -- >> chris: once he has miranda rights he doesn't have to speak at all. >> he doesn't have to, but he knows certain things are on the table. if he wants to engage with us in a productive manner, there are ways he can do that. >> chris: but why not treat him -- you certainly had the right, still have the right to treat him as enemy combatant. why not do that? if he has more actionable

intelligence about future attacks -- and you say there is a real possibility of that -- doesn't the president have a responsibility to do everything legal he can to get that information? >> the president has a responsibility and the department of justice makes determinations about what is the best tool to use. in this instance, we felt as though the best way to address mr. abdulmutallab's case. we'll continue to look at each of the cases individually and proceed accordingly. >> chris: just briefly, what is the down side of treating him as an enemy combatant? >> there are no down sides or up sides in particular cases. what we're trying to do is make sure we apply the right tools in the right instance. in this case, we made a determination he should be tried in the u.s. criminal court. >> chris: you're leading the review, as we pointed out at the beginning of what the president calls the human and systemic failures that led to abdulmutallab being on that plane on christmas day. intelligence screening. from what you've learned so far, what was the failure? >> we're still going through those reviews that have come in the white house. i think there are a

combination of issues we're looking at. first of all, the president is very determined to make sure we identify what the problems were and take corrective actions immediately. whether or not they're individual cases or whether or not they're more systemic issues that we have to address. i think it was a combination of things. we had information that came from mr. abdulmutallab's father. his name was put into what is called the tide record system. we also had, though, intelligence. snippets of intelligence that came in, that didn't refer directly to umar farouk abdulmutallab but had little bits and pieces of information that we now know in hindsight related to mr. umar farouk abdulmutallab. we need as a system make sure we can put the pieces together so we take every step possible to prevent the individuals from getting on the plane . >> chris: you can characterize it without getting into the details. was there a smoking gun that was ignored? was it that there were bits and pieces of information and the puzzle wasn't put together? or was that it there is continued division, rivalry among the various intelligence agencies? >> well, a couple of things. one, there was no smoking gun.

there was no piece of intelligence that said this guy is a terrorist and is going to get on a plane. no, none whatsoever. it was a failure to integrate the bits and pieces of information. but it's much different prior to 9/11. before there then was a culture of keeping the information to individual agencies and department. in the review so far, there is no indication whatsoever that any agency was not trying to share information. there were some lapses, human errors and failures of the system to allow it to happen at the speed of light. that's what we're talking about. information that comes in one agency of the department that has to get somewhere else so actions can be taken. >> chris: you talk about human error. the president insisted this week that people will be held responsible for their failures. let's take a look. >> it's also my job to ensure that our intelligence, law enforcement and homeland security systems and the people in them are working effectively and held accountable. i intend to fulfill that responsibility. and and insist on accountability

on every level. >> chris: let me pursue the question about accountability. does the president have full confidence in homeland security secretary napolitano, director of intelligence, national intelligence and c.i.a. director penit pinetta o he reserving judgment on them? >> accountability needs to be part of any review and it should be at all levels. particularly with secretary napolitano is concerned, i know she has taken hits this week as far as the comments that her system worked. i think she clarified the comments and made it clear she was referring to how the system reacted after the incident. it worked closely with janet napolitano in the last 11 months and i can tell you we're fortunate to have somebody so her experience and caliber. she is exceptionally dedicated individual and i consider a privilege to work next to her. >> chris: you have given her vote of confidence how about denny blair and leon pineta?

>> there are complicated issues within the intelligence community. they're working hard to make sure the president has the benefit the intelligence community can provide. >> chris: on another personnel matter it came out this week that the president's nominee for tsa chief had a transportati -- head of transportation security erroll southers had to correct congressional testimony after he had given it about his involvement a couple of decades ago in going through criminal records on a personal matter. does the president still have full confidence in him and back his nomination? >> absolutely. erroll southers has tremendous experience and it's what we need right now at the transportation security administration. it's unfortunate that there is one senator who has a hold on mr. southers. and i think the issues have been looked at repeatedly. senators are comfortable with it. and again, it's unfortunate that there is one hold. >> chris: i don't have to tell you we have a little over a minute left, politics has reared its head in the discussion this week about the

response to christmas day attack. this week, vice president cheney had this to say about president obama. here it is. >> he seems to think if he closes guantanamo and releases hardcore al-qaeda trained terrorists still there, we won't be at war. he seems to think if we get rid of the words "war on terror" we won't be at war. but we are at war and when president obama pretends we aren't it makes us less safe. mr. brennan, your response? >> it's disappointing to me that either the vice president and others willfully mischaracterized president obama's position in actions or they're just ignorant of the facts. in either case, it doesn't speak well to the reasons they went out and said these things. i came back into government for the express purpose of making sure that we can make the country safer than it's ever been in the past. i have worked with the president over the last 12 months now. and he is as determined as anybody that i've worked with. neither republican nor a democrat. i worked for the previous five administrations. and this president is determined and i think it's

demonstrated in his language. he says we're at war with al-qaeda. we'll destroy al-qaeda the organization and we'll demonstrate through our actions whether it be in afghanistan, pakistan, yemen and other places that al-qaeda might be able to run but they're not going to be able to hide so. that -- not going to be able to hide. >> chris: what are the effects of the political attacks in the last week? >> it makes people lose sight of the real enemy. al-qaeda has been responsible for the death of many americans. we have to thif b think back tor 9/11 when democrats and republicans came together and said we have to make sure we stop al-qaeda from carrying out the acts of terrorism and trying to murder innocent civilians. i would hope that the republicans and democrats and everybody else out there really takes stock of where we are right now and for this country's national security. >> chris: but didn't over the course of the last eight years democrats take a lot of pot shots at the bush-cheney administration national security policy? >> i think that partisan politics should be put aside

when something as important as national security as the threat of terrorism. it's a serious threat and it continues to haunt us. we have to make sure we stay focussed on al-qaeda. so that's what i'm going to do in this job. i don't care what republicans or democrats say out there. we need to continue to prosecute the war because al-qaeda the organization needs to be destroyed. >> chris: mr. brennan, thank you. thanks for coming in. >> thank you, chris. >> chris: give us the latest information. please come back, sir. >> thank you. >> chris: up next, reaction to the attempted attack and advice about what president obama needs to do now from the top republican on the senate intelligence committee. back in a moment. ( music playing )

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>> chris: joining us now to

[brief technical difficulty] >> no question we have been watching yemen for some time. this is where we see great dangers coming and the fact is as the president admitted that the al-qaeda in the arab peninsula operating out of yemen trained the terrorists. some of them, gitmo graduates. and if we don't stop the practice of releasing gitmo detainees to yemen or to other countries -- and some of them came through yemen through saudi arabia -- we're asking for more trouble. i think there ought to be an immediate halt to releases from gitmo. >> chris: let me ask you to pick up on that. as you just heard mr. brennan say even after the christmas day attempted massacre, that the obama administration intends to continue transferring detainees from

gitmo to yemen on a case-by-case basis. your reaction? >> i am very disturbed by that. everybody ought to admit that the bush administration made a big mistake in transferring these detainees, these terrorists back to other countries. saudi arabia was supposed to have an excellent program of rehabilitation. 11 of their rehabilitation graduates have been captured or killed on the battlefield. and i have asked the director of national intelligence what's the scorecard for 2009? we knew through 2008 there were 61 gitmo guys that have gone back to terrorism. and it's classified. they won't release it. we need to know. >> chris: even to you as the vice president of the intelligence committee? >> i hope i could get it, but it should be declassified for the public. i understand that it is, it's a troubling report. i have not seen it. i hope to see it.

more importantly, i think the american people need to see it. >> chris: is there anything -- i know you and a number of senators of both parties feel strongly about releasing detainees to yemen or other countries. is there anything that congress can do to stop it? >> we were trying to stop bringing gitmo detainees to the united states, but in the last bill that was passed, the majority removed that constraint. we have 40 members of our party in the senate. and a number of democrats who want to work with us. i hope that we might be able to do that. but i think the bush administration has been shown they made a mistake. i hope the obama administration will learn from that and not continue to commit the same mistake. >> chris: let's talk about another -- i suspect you'll say this is another mistake d. you think it was a mistake to charge abdulmutallab as a criminal defendant? >> clearly. as you said in your interview, as soon as they got away, he

lawyered up. now they may be able to negotiate over a period of months or years some kind of deal in which he gives them some information. but we have the ability -- or we had the ability in the previous administration to interrogate detainees following the laws and the constitution, not torturing them but getting information from them. and this man abdulmutallab probably has more insight in to possible other recruits that al-qaeda would be sending in to the united states. and they may be coming. and we need to know from him or from others what he knows, and who they are. we even brought in the pirate from somalia and put him in the civilian courts. we should have treated him as an enemy combatant, because the pirates are feeding many to the al-qaeda in the arab peninsula.

we need to treat them as enemy combatants and get information from them. >> chris: let's talk about that, because you're suggesting and mr. brennan certainly did that there is a real possibility that there are more jihadis, jihadist terrorists that are being trained right now in yemen to come to this country. how much harder is it going to be to get that information on a timely basis out of abdulmutallab with him as a criminal suspect, criminal defendant, rather than an enemy combatant? >> any criminal lawyer has to tell him he has to be quiet, he has to shut up until months if now, maybe years from now. they come forth with a deal saying well if you tell us who your handlers were, who the other people were, we will limit your charges. we should have held him as an enemy combatant, tried him under the military commissions. the supreme court upheld that when we caught german saboteurs in the united states and tried them as enemy combatants. >> chris: of course in world

war ii. >> a supreme court case, they upheld it and the jose padilla case. we can try them in military commission approved by congress as recently in wein. >> chris: your senate intelligence committee announced you will hold hearings in the terrorist would be attack as well as the alleged failures in our ability to prevent it. starting on january 21. in announcing the hearings and the investigation, you said the following -- let's put it up. "somebody screwed up big-time." senator, any thoughts about who screwed up? >> that's what we want to find out. it probably should have been plural. i have didn't think at the time of making it plural. there are probably a number of people who screwed up. how was the information shared? did the information get in? do we have adequate means of -- do we have a system in the national counterterrorism center of making sure that all the information relative to a single suspect or a single

activity can be colated, can we get it out to the agency that needs it? we may need more i.t., better information systems. but with all of the, with all of the leads dangling out there, somebody screwed up by not reporting it. and clearly the screening was a disaster. that's homeland security's area. >> chris: let's talk about that. the president has repeatedly said that he intends to hold government officials, top government officials at all levels accountabaccountable. you heard on this just a moment ago mr. brennan praising several top officials. put them on the screen. secretary napolitano, intelligence chief blair, c.i.a. director panetta. question, have you lost question in any of those? >> well, i work very closely with leon panetta and admiral blair. i think, i think they're doing the best job they can. the problem with the director of national intelligence denny

blair, he has all of the responsibility and not enough authority. i voted against the bill because he does not have the ability to control all the elements of the i.c. i have not worked with secretary napolitano, but when she said that the terrorist act should be called a man-caused disaster, or when she said recently the system worked perfectly, i think it raised a lot of eyebrows, but those statements, misstatements are certainly not grounds to relieve her. i think we need to find out what really happened. >> chris: finally, i want to talk with you as i did with mr. brennan about politics. former vice president cheney and a number of top republicans have really gone after this administration for its response after christmas day and suggested this is another example of democrats being soft on terror. let's go through the record if we can. it took president bush six days to react to the shoe

bomber richard reid. it was the bush administration that set up this terror watch system. and several of the guantanamo detainees, as you pointed out, who ended up in yemen were released under president bush. don't republicans have plenty to answer for? >> i think the bush administration really needs to answer for releasing the detainees to saudi arabia and other places. and we've seen that is a mistake. and i know, i'm sure they would admit that's a mistake. but to continue to make the same mistake would be a tragedy. i really think that failing to recognize that we are under attack, the al-qaeda and its related activities, related allies have declares war on us. they're coming after us. this is not a case for a series of criminal trials. we tried that in the '90s after the first attack on the world trade center, the embassy bombing, the cole attack. this is war. and it's time that we reacted

to the war attacks that are coming at us. >> chris: senator, thank you. >> thank you. >> chris: thank you always for coming in and bringing us up to speed. >> thank you, sir. >> chris: up next, the sunday group looks at the policy and the politics of the christmas day terror attack. back in a moment. employees everywhere are sending out sos. who can help put their retirement plan back on solid ground... protect their savings... and guarantee their income throughout retirement? as a leader in your company, who can you call to help get retirement right? who? pru. for solutions that redefine retirement, prudential is the rock you can rely on. introducing the 2010 motor trend truck of thyear, the all new ram heavy duty.

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our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred and

that we will do whatever it takes to defeat them and defend our country. even as we uphold the values that have always distinguished america among nations. >> chris: president obama in his saturday media address leaving no doubt he still considers the u.s. to be a nation at war. and it's time now for our sunday regulars. brit hume, fox news senior political analyst. contributor nina easton of fortune magazine. bill kristol of the weekly standard. and juan williams from national public radio. i want to pick up on the president's remarks. he declared that this is a nation at war. he said it appears that this young nigerian abdulmutallab joined al-qaeda, that he was trained, equipped and directed by them to attack the u.s. given all of that, brit, what do you make of the debate and what do you make of the decision to charge him as a criminal defendant and not as an enemy combatant? >> i don't think it was a decision made with the idea in mind that this is the best way to get information out of him.

and that tells you something about this administration's priorities. the president spoke there about doing whatever it takes and then he said con analysis ta analysis -- consistent with our values. it's permeated his campaign rhetoric and what he's done as president that what we most need to do to deal with the situation in the world is have a better reputation as a country of being a kinder, gentler land. this decision to try him in criminal court reflects that opinion. that view, that judgment. i think that the net effect of it is laxness. laxness across the board. it starts at the top with the president and his ideas and permeates his administration and permeates the approach we're seeing. we're seeing they're now saying we will continue to consider sending guantanamo bay prisoners back to yemen. yemen! i mean it's o one thing we know out of this is what a hotbed that place is.

why would you wantp to send anybody there? but there they are. >> chris: nina? >> the bottom line question about this and how you try this guy is intelligence and what you get out of them. >> i don't think it is. they're treating it as a law enforcement issue. >> they are. but the question if you do it in a different way is get more intelligence and the prospect of getting more intelligence. to me it's not just getting intelligence, it's what you do with it. we heard a lot about systemic failure and i argue it's an attitudenal failure. we rearranged the system and we have department of homeland security and director of central intelligence. there was intelligence. it wasn't a smoking gun as john brennan said, and it won't always be a smoking gun but there was intelligence that came and it's a question of what you do with it. he had a vista to enter the united states, granted in 2008. the fundamental question is why wasn't the vista revoked? britain revoked his ability to come to britain based on his

lying in a school application. i think we need to lower the threshold of the people who can get visas to get into this country. but that means the world isn't going to like you. >> raise the threshold. >> race raise the threshold. that means the world is not going to like you. the obama's vision, he wants the world to like us. there was a lot of heat against the bush administration when we started to crack down on visas and, you know, students couldn't get in. business people couldn't get in. you will take a lot of heat if you do that. >> chris: is that, as brit frames it, is that the issue, that it's a choice between getting tough or doing things, whether it's on decisions about guantanamo, decisions about criminal defendants that may appeal to the rest of the world and the obama administration is coming down on one side of that? >> i'm not even sure it appeals to the rest of the world, of course. i don't think the rest of the world will be shocked if we treated him as an enemy combatant consistent with president obama's interrogation.

no one has interrogation techniques but still try to interrogate him. many brennan s mr. brennan said we're worried that there are other abdulmutallabs out there. he might know who they are and know their names. we let him lawyer up. and he's probably thinking gee, maybe i could use it to bargain with and get a reduced system. mr. brennan seem to and kate we're going to work with the lawyers and have incentive to offer him. that's operational intelligence and we're not treating it as a war. if there is no smoking gun, this is the smoking gun -- he is the smoking gun. his father comes and gives the c.i.a. station chief in africa his name. he a month later, he goes to yemen, says he's in yemen. he is in yemen and he's in a cleric who we're monitoring in yemen, al-awlaki. he goes to an airport using his own name. no disguise. buys with cash a one-way ticket to the u.s. >> no luggage. >> he is the smoking gun.

for mr. brennan to say no smoking gun, that assumption is the kind of not serious about the war mentality. i'd add one last thing. closing the embassy in yemen last night -- i don't know, i don't want state department officials put at risk and all that, but that's a sign of weakness. closing the embassy? we can't protect our own embassy, in a place we say we're working with the government on the front line on the war on terror and there is a terror threat and we close the embassy? that's a victory for al-qaeda. the last week has been a victory for al-qaeda in that region, i'm afraid. >> i disagree. i don't think there was a smoking gun. what mr. brennan was talking about was a specific failure you can back track and say here is the moment when there was derogatory information to lead you inescapably to say we want to crack down on this information. by the standards that the u.s. has, the father went to the embassy and the father did complain and we had the

knowledge, it wasn't sufficiently communicated but is there some specific standard that was not held to? i don't think so. and then with regard to what brit was sayingsaying, i recall richard reid was tried by the bush administration in criminal court. i don't see that there is any change between what conservative republican administration and more liberal -- >> that was in december of 2001. they didn't have military commission shown up. and richard reid didn't know anything. >> chris: didn't know if richard reid knew anything. >> maybe it was a mistake to try him in criminal administration. if that's obama administration excuse -- >> not an excuse. >> eight years in the war on terror -- >> it's an excellent american standard. you talk about just wanting to make people like us. no, no, no. i was wrong last week when i said on this program i thought he was acting independently. i think there are lots of people who thought it's not only the u.s. intelligence, it was british intelligence, others around the world who didn't pick this up. okay, a mistake was made.

it should have been communicated. but to somehow suggest that that is now reason for us to act in a more draconian manner and give up on the idea we want to stop the spread of anti-american sentiment around the world and it's just a matter of, you know, dressing up and being nice to people and leading the guests, that's not right. it's about trying to stop the spread of terrorism to the individuals like this guy abdulmutallab, and the guy at fort hood who picked this up over the internet and think they're being anti-american and attacking the monster. i think we are acting in our best interest and intelligently saying -- >> chris: we have 37 seconds left. are you persuaded by mr. williams' argument? >> that would be a no. i might say we keep talking about this failed attack, this failed attempt. it was sort of didn't succeed on the scale it intended but look at the consequences. it set in motion all kind of security procedures for several days that made no

sense, by the way, at u.s. airports. certainly we wouldn't close the embassy in yemen in the absence of these events. yemen a month ago was a hotbed. it's a hotbed today. you know, if i were the al-qaeda people, i think bill is right. they can look at this as a success. this was an attack that didn't succeed on the scale it was expected to, but did succeed. >> chris: all right. we have to step aside for a moment. when we come back, our panel looks to the year ahead in politics, sports, entertainment and the economy. they have a few surprises. right after this break. wow, that's low price! wow, that's a low price! wow, that's a low price! how many products do we carry? 7,000. [ man ] wow, that's low price! i'll get him a cart. [ man ] hot diggity dog! yeah. that's a low price! [ male announcer ] staples has low prices on everything you need for your office. and we mean everything.

staples. that was easy. and we mean everything. host: could switching to geico 15% or more on car insurance? host: does elmer fudd have trouble with the letter r? elmer: shhhh, be very quiet; i'm hunting wabbits. director (o/c): ok cut!!!! uh...it's i'm hunting "rabbits," elmer. let's try that again. elmer: shhhh, i'm hunting wabbits. director (o/c): cuuuuut! rabbits. elmer: wabbits director (o/c): rabbits. elmer: wabbits. director (o/c): rabbits with an "r." elmer: aw...this diwector's starting to wub me the wong way. vo: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more. on this day in 1961, president eisenhower severed diplomatic relations with cuba and closed the american embassy there. this marked the end of the u.s. policy of trying to d negotiate with the new regime of fidel castro. stay tuned with more from our panel.

>> chris: and we're back now with the panel and their fearless predictions for 2010, guided by the philosophy, often in error, never in doubt. the first category is politics. brit, get us started. >> i think terrorism returns as a major political issue this political season. and i think it confronts the administration with somewhat difficult choice. if it continues in this let's make, let's be nice, let's be true to our values and make the world like us better approach, we're going to have more trouble. the other option, of course, is is act more like the bush administration acted and take a more war-like approach. which i think is unpalatable as well. so i think it's a difficult choice and there is no easy answer for the administration on that. >> chris: nina, politics. >> i think the 2010 election

is going to be a nail-biter and the democrats will succeed holding on to the house just barely. but that we'll see the loss in senate of stalworth like chris dodd and barber boxer and harry reid and it will make the white house nervous enough as it will move to the center as it campaigned and that's actually not good for republicans in 2012. >> chris: and obviously according to that prediction, the 60-vote democrat supermajority in the senate gone? >> gone. >> chris: mr. kristol? >> that cheers me up already. better news, the iranian regime could fall this year. after the years of power, it lost the support of the public, whatever support it had and lost support of the cleric, who decided the doctrine of where the supreme leadership ruled is not consistent. montiseri died and whose death triggered the demonstration turned against them and they

have support against the younger clerics so the loss of popular legitimacy could bring down the regime this year and that would be a good thing. >> chris: what would take over and what would replace them and would they be more amenable to the west? >> it would be i think a democratic regime. the army has to play a central role. they would be determined less hostile to the west. >> i hope you're right. on the domestic front you have healthcare reform passing and then you have immigration reform and i think the result is a rise if right wing populist politics and more and more, not necessarily people going to the republican party but talk of a third party, getting serious in this country. people saying you know, we want people who are really going to respond to the kind of populist -- they say the government is too big, too much taxes and they will look for candidates. i think there will be a big change in politics. >> chris: let's move to entertainment and the entertainment editor, brit

hume. >> well, i must say i'm not looking forward to another year of movies. i think the movies in recent years have been pretty bad. very few really good movies. the action remains on television. there is good television drama to be seen, good crime drama to be seen. tv is where it is. movies continue to be where it isn't. >> "mad men" is just an equisite show. very well-written show. my prediction is jay leno at 10:00 p.m. is a goner. this was nbc's attempt, experiment to look for more cheap program and not scripted dramas. they move to the today show and put him in the 10:00 slot and ratings have tanked since then. i think we will see the end of that show and the end of that experiment. >> chris: two votes for tv dramas. bill kristol? >> donald westlake, the great crime novelist who died a year ago wins the nobel prize posthumously for literature, as he should.

no american has won in two decades. he deserves it. it won't happen. the nobel prize committee does not have a sense of humor. they'll give it for another analyst with the depth of the modern soul. you can learn more by reading west lake's 100 novels. >> i like his position. for a former professor it's nice. >> not going to happen. >> on the issue of books, i think there will be a major shift that's evident to anybody walking down the street anywhere in the united states these days. fewer and fewer bookstores because kindle, you know, nook, the reader, the e-reader outsold books in the last christmas season. and i think you're going to see more of this now take place in the country that people who are readers are buying books from amazon, and then downloading them on to the electronic devices. fewer people in the airports with books. >> chris: did you get one? >> no, i didn't -- actually, my wife gave me one, a sony one a long time ago and i've

been really slow to put it to work. >> chris: okay. sports, brit? >> tiger woods will recover as a golfer. whether he can recover as a person i think is an open question. it's a tragic situation with him. i think he has lost his family. it's not clear to me whether he'll be able to have a relationship with his children, but the tiger woods that emerges once the news value dies out of this scandal, the extent to which he can recover seems to me depends on his faith. he is said to be a buddhist. i don't think that faith offers the kind of redemption and forgiveness offered by the christian faith. my message to tiger is, tiger turn to the christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world? >> look for congress to dive again into the professional sports drug testing controversy. the nfl wants to vikings to suspend two players who have tested positive, not for steroids but for a drug that

masks steroids. and the house energy and commerce committee, i predict, will vote to say that the nhl should pre-empt minnesota's more lenient law and go ahead and suspend those players. >> i have a straightforward sports prediction is tiger will come back and win the masters. he's still an awfully good golfer despite the chaos and the bad news about his personal life. >> chris: juan? >> brett favre i think gets close to the super bowl this year, but he doesn't quite get there. as a result, there is talk about whether he's coming back again for another year. and yes, he will come back to the vikings. the red skins could use him. but no such deal. i think he is back to the vikings. he's the oldest player in the nfl, but he is going to be even older. we'll see how it goes. >> chris: does he retire before he comes back? >> what do you mean? >> chris: does he retires? >> he retires and then he comes back -- it's drama.

we wouldn't have tv programming without him. >> chris: economy, brit? >> i think the question is can we have a full-blown recovery of the kind that would begin to pay off the debt and produce jobs and so forth with the current policies in place? my sense is that we cannot. that it will be very difficult. we'll have tremendous focus from the president in terms of his discourse on jobs. but i don't think the policies in place can bring them enough to save his party in the election this year. >> chris: nina? >> the big accounting scandal of this year is going to be the chinese economy. we hear reports that they're growing at an 8, 9% clip. in fact, a lot of economists think they're growing at much less, 5 to 6%. it's really that the government is throwing money in the state-owned enterprises, building these gorgeous factories, producing all this stuff with no one to sell to. that means, what that means for the u.s. economy is dumping a lot of chinese goods here, and fewer chinese

resources available to buy u.s. treasuries. >> chris: bill kristol? >> bearish on the economy, too, i guess. and i think we could see beginning of stagflation again. we'll have rising interest rates. rising inflation. unemployment will stay high. rising public debt. rising tax rates. it's not a recipe i think for a strong economy. we really missed this chance. i think the country has missed a chance to sensibly fix the economy and instead we bailed out the big banks and have done nothing about the economy. >> chris: juan williams? >> i'm bullish on the economy. the economy is going good guns. the problem is with the unemployment it won't do so well so quickly, but 8% unemployment at the mid-term, not good for the democrats. but what are you going to do? it's tough. if you're investing on wall street, go forward. you're going to win. >> chris: 8% by november? that's very optimistic. thank you, panel. we'll keep all of this on tape. embarrass you with it at various points. see you next week. don't forget to check out the

latest edition of panel plus where the group here continues the discussion shortly after the show ends on our website foxnewssunday.com. and that's also the same address you can use to post your comments. we'll be right back. would you like a pony ? yeah. would you like a pony ? yeah ! ( cluck, cluck, cluck ) oh, wowww ! that's fun ! you didn't say i could have a real one. well, you didn't ask. even kids know when it's wrong to hold out on somebody. why don't banks ? we're ally, a new bank that alerts you when your money could be working harder and earning more. it's just the right thing to do. start your day with 100% all natural florida orange juice, the original power beverage that

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